A few years back I was having lunch in Soho with a London publisher, trying tactfully to find out why a book of mine - about Scotland - cost so much and never seemed available in Scottish bookshops. I cited an Edinburgh firm whose handsomely-produced list seemed ubiquitous in the north and also quite affordable. 'Ah,' said my host, 'but X is only worried about where his next Chinese carry-out is coming from,'

LRB 9 April 1992 | PDF Download